THE Senate Blue Ribbon committee is prepared to endorse criminal charges against Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada should documentary evidence confirm that they profited from alleged budget insertions in Bulacan flood control projects.

In a report by Philstar, Senator Panfilo Lacson, the chairman of the committee, confirmed that dismissed district engineer Brice Hernandez, now under Senate custody, returned over the weekend with boxes of documents and a computer drive that he claimed would substantiate his allegations against the two lawmakers and other public officials.

The materials have been sealed to preserve their integrity before being evaluated and possibly presented at the next committee hearing.

Lacson explained that the documents will also be forwarded to the newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to aid its parallel probe into infrastructure anomalies. He noted that while Hernandez has repeatedly accused Villanueva and Estrada of benefitting from ghost projects, concrete proof has yet to surface.

The Senate earlier identified P355 million worth of projects linked to Estrada and P600 million tied to Villanueva in the national budget, though investigators have not established whether the senators themselves pushed for the allocations.

Lacson stressed that if Hernandez fails to present solid evidence, the committee will make it clear that no case can stand against the senators. But if the allegations are proven, he said the panel will have no choice but to push for prosecution.

Both Villanueva and Estrada have vehemently denied receiving kickbacks.(Xienderlyn Trinidad, USJ-R Comm Intern)

• Tags
• #Panfilo Lacson
• #Joel Villanueva
• #Jinggoy Estrada
• #Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
• #Brice Hernandez
• #Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI)
• #Bulacan flood control projects
• #budget insertions
• #ghost projects
• #infrastructure anomalies
• #corruption probe